Good amp for somewhat heavy rock (yet not quite metal)

[Sang-Drax]

Here's the thing. I've got a POD X3 Live, and I plugged it in front of a Marshall Valvestate combo (not mine) and I was actually pleased with the result. However, these amps are far too expensive around here for their buck - I guess it's a trend thing. So, I started considering saving money to buy a decent amp for once.

And here my questions begin. I'm not in a metal band anymore. The tone I'm after is something between A Perfect Circle and, at most, Opeth's recent material. By that I mean I don't need a lot of drive or scooped sound; I need my notes to be warm and well defined.

At first, I thought of a 5150, but I don't know if it can handle mid-gain very well (in which case I'd use the pod for fx in the loop only). Or I could just buy a power amp and cab and keep using the pod as my pre... or maybe higher end amps such as VHT Pitbull or a Mark IV (even though these are far too expensive for my budget). I'm at a loss here. And the worst thing is, there aren't many (or, none at all) music stores around here where I could play-test quality amps.

If that helps, my guitar is a Schecter Blackjack C7.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

 

[CoG]

You might want to try and find a used Peavey or Mesa tube power amp, they are pretty bombproof and might be around in your part of the world. Definitely try to go used. New power amps are always overpriced and they are hard to damage, so they are a good thing to buy used!

You could run your Pod into that or upgrade to a Boss GT-8, which I believe is what Opeth actually uses live, or a Vox Tonelab.

 

[Sang-Drax]

You might want to try and find a used Peavey or Mesa tube power amp, they are pretty bombproof and might be around in your part of the world. Definitely try to go used. New power amps are always overpriced and they are hard to damage, so they are a good thing to buy used!

Thanks for the reply, dude

I was considering acquiring a Mesa 20/20 somehow, since they're more common around here than a Peavey one. Nevertheless, they ain't cheap at all, and I don't know if I'd keep using a power amp once I found myself a better job . Maybe I should just buy a power amp and start researching high end preamps for the (hopefully near) future.

You could run your Pod into that or upgrade to a Boss GT-8, which I believe is what Opeth actually uses live, or a Vox Tonelab.

It's just that I've heard the GT-8 isn't that hot for studio recording. Do they use it as a preamp? That'd be quite surprising.

 

[dmcguitar]

The 5150 II has a lower gain rhytym channel then the 5150 (it was done to make a better clean sound) the lead is different as well. I get a good mid gain sound out of it, i leave the lead up around 5.5 (pre gain) so its not at all mid gain, (i have the II)

personally i want to mod mine back to the 5150 specs as to have more gain on tap.

you may be able to get what you want out of that crunch channel.
how about a stilleto ace? they arent horribly priced and have mid gain.. and high gain.

 

[boogietone]

VHT 50/ST with GEQ if you can find one. Great amp! I tried selling mine for a while but I think I'm going to hang on to it now. The older version has 4 EL84's. The newer version (one I have) has two EL34's. Actually, mine is biased for JJ KT77's right now. Not very compressed. Quite open sounding. Nice change from MKIV's. Not talking bad about MKIV's, just a different animal.
Nice clean channel and the crunch is awesome! Reverb, not so good. You can mod them though. The reverb driver is an EF86 tube. You can mod the amp to run a 12AX7 or an EL84 for the tube driver to improve the reverb. I haven't done it yet but am going to.

 

[Sang-Drax]

I've read wonders about VHT's in the sevenstring.org boards, specially the Pitbull Ultra Lead (which is far, far above my budget). Couldn't find any mid gain clips of it, though. Is it too different from the 50/ST?

Stiletto, huh? Hmmm... I'll look for some clips in youtube. Someone also recommended me the DC-5, but it sounds way too bluesy IMO.

edit: how about Marshalls? I'm a sucker to Billy Howerdel's tone, and he seems to be using some Marshall amp in those tv shows where A Perfect Circle performs live. I know he otherwise uses a mysterious custom amp.

 

[jdurso]

I've read wonders about VHT's in the sevenstring.org boards, specially the Pitbull Ultra Lead (which is far, far above my budget). Couldn't find any mid gain clips of it, though. Is it too different from the 50/ST?

Stiletto, huh? Hmmm... I'll look for some clips in youtube. Someone also recommended me the DC-5, but it sounds way too bluesy IMO.

edit: how about Marshalls? I'm a sucker to Billy Howerdel's tone, and he seems to be using some Marshall amp in those tv shows where A Perfect Circle performs live. I know he otherwise uses a mysterious custom amp.

The UL is pretty different from the 50 ST. The UL is meant to melt your face off and i find that the cleans suffer for that. The 50 ST is the master at the Vox like cleans and great for mid to slightly high gain crunch. TYhe middle ground between the two is probably the CL50 which can do high gain, mid gain and has some decent cleans. In the VHT realm though i prefer the Sig X as it sounds like a VHT but can get that loose, almost recto feel to it.

As far as Howerdel's tone, he has a heavily modded marshall with a whole slew of FX. I recently read he moved to an Axe-fx for all his FX but still uses his modded Marshall for just about all heavy tones. I've also heard he uses Diezels in the studio and was actually the one that introduced Adam Jones to them.

DC5 may be a good fit if you dig the 50 ST, but i would also take a look at the Egnater Tourmaster. killer amp that doesn't weigh that heavily on your wallet. Dont know how availible they are in South america though.

 

[dmcguitar]

www.netmusicians.org

on the left hand side there is a link for show all amps, you can pick an amp and hope someone recorded clips in the range you want. i enjoy listening to them.

marshall maybe a dsl 50 or vintage modern, or the jvm 2 channel

 

[nitrous2400]

I gotta agree with jdurso the sig x is absolutely amazing for mid gain toanz. I'd go out to say that i really like it better for mid gain than stupid heavy stuff that ive been using it for. It has so many different sounds in it that you really cant beat it for the money. Just boost the mids toss a boost in the mix and your set to go. Its tight as hell but with a boost its very useable, it has more sag then the ul but less than a typical mesa. I can get a good 5150ish sound with more upper mids in it by turning gain 1 down slightly, get a marshally sound by dropping gain one more and turning up the master or get a very very close recto sound by turning gain 1 up real high. Im being honest when I say its very cool and worth a look.

 

[Sang-Drax]

Thanks, people... you've all been very helpful.

Awesome link, btw... thanks!

 

[Sang-Drax]

update: I checked out some Stiletto clips. I'm in love with it!

 

[Geiri]

Get a deuce or a trident head. These will fulfill your tonal wishes in abundance.

 

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